Media-on-demand catalog viewing preference system

ABSTRACT

The invention can be viewed as a system for providing media information to a user via an interactive media services client device coupled to a programmable television services server device. A method of the preferred embodiment of the present invention includes receiving user input and excluding one or more media titles from a media title list based on the user input.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of application Ser. No. 09/692,986,filed Oct. 20, 2000, which is a continuation-in-part of Application No.9/590,488, filed on Jun. 9, 2000, which are entirely incorporated hereinby reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates in general to television systems, and moreparticularly, to the field of media-on-demand.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

With recent advances in digital transmission technology, cabletelevision systems are now capable of providing much more than thetraditional analog broadcast video. In implementing enhancedprogramming, the home communication terminal (“HCT”), otherwise known asthe settop box, has become an important computing device for accessingvideo services and navigating a subscriber through a maze of availableservices. In addition to supporting traditional analog broadcast videofunctionality, digital HCTs (or “DHCTs”) now also support an increasingnumber of two-way digital services such as video-on-demand.

Typically, a DHCT is connected to a cable or satellite televisionnetwork and includes hardware and software necessary to provide thefunctionality of the digital television system at the client's site.Preferably, some of the software executed by a DHCT is downloaded and/orupdated via the cable television network. Each DHCT also typicallyincludes a processor, communication components and memory, and isconnected to a television or other display device, such as a personalcomputer. While many conventional DHCTs are stand-alone devices that areexternally connected to a television, a DHCT and/or its functionalitymay be integrated into a television or personal computer, as will beappreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art.

DHCTs are capable of providing users with a very large number andvariety of purchasable media rentals and/or non-purchasable on-demandmedia. Given the vast number of years that film and television studioshave produced movies, television programs and audio programs, copiousmedia titles can be offered for convenient on-demand viewing. As thenumber of available on-demand media increases, it can becomeinconvenient and time consuming for users to continually browse throughunwanted media titles in order to find the ones that they like.Therefore there exists a need to make it easier and more convenient forusers to browse through available media titles.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The invention can be viewed as a system for providing media informationto a user via an interactive media services client device coupled to aprogrammable television services server device. A method of thepreferred embodiment of the present invention includes receiving userinput and excluding one or more media titles from a media title listbased on the user input.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention can be better understood with reference to the followingdrawings. The components in the drawings are not necessarily drawn toscale, emphasis instead being placed upon clearly illustrating theprinciples of the present invention. In the drawings, like referencenumerals designate corresponding parts throughout the several views.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a cable television system in accordancewith one preferred embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram of the headend 11 as depicted in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a DHCT and related equipment, in accordancewith one preferred embodiment of the present invention depicted in FIG.1.

FIG. 4 is a remote control device that can be used to provide user inputto the DHCT shown in FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 depicts an example title selection window that illustrates amedia title list presented to the user by the DHCT of FIG. 3.

FIG. 6 depicts an example deletion confirmation window that is presentedto a user after the user requests the deletion of a media title via thetitle selection window depicted in FIG. 5.

FIG. 7 depicts an alternative embodiment to the deletion confirmationwindow shown in FIG. 6.

FIG. 8 depicts an example window that illustrates the deletion of amedia title from the media title list of FIG. 5.

FIG. 9 depicts an example window that illustrates the process ofrestoring a deleted media title to the media title list shown in FIG. 8

FIG. 10 depicts an example window that illustrates media filteringcategories presented by the DHCT of FIG. 3.

FIG. 11 depicts an example windows that illustrates filtering criteriacorresponding to a filtering category shown in the example window ofFIG. 10.

FIG. 12 depicts an example window that illustrates the activation of afiltering criterion shown in example window of FIG. 11.

FIG. 13 depicts an example window that illustrates the de-activation ofa filtering criterion shown in the example window of FIG. 12.

FIG. 14 depicts an alternative embodiment to the example window shown inFIG. 5, illustrating a media title list.

FIG. 15 depicts an alternative embodiment to the example window in FIG.8, illustrating the deletion of a media title from the media title listshown in FIG. 14.

FIG. 16 depicts an example window that illustrates the process ofrestoring (undeleting) a deleted media title to the media title listshown in FIG. 15.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The present invention now will be described more fully hereinafter withreference to the accompanying drawings, in which preferred embodimentsof the invention are shown. This invention may, however, be embodied inmany different forms and should not be construed as limited to theembodiments set forth herein; rather, these embodiments are provided sothat this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fullyconvey the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art.

The present invention is generally implemented as part of a cabletelevision system (CTS). Hence, an illustrative CTS 10 and its operationwill be described initially. FIG. 1 shows a block diagram view of a CTS10, which is generally a high quality, reliable and integrated networksystem that features video, audio, voice and data services to DHCTusers. Although FIG. 1 depicts a high level view of a CTS 10, it shouldbe appreciated that a plurality of cable television systems can tietogether a plurality of regional networks into an integrated globalnetwork so that DHCT users can receive content provided from anywhere inthe world.

The CTS 10 delivers broadcast video signals as digitally formattedsignals in addition to delivering traditional broadcast analog videosignals. Furthermore, the system can support one way broadcast servicesas well as both one-way data services and two-way media and dataservices. The two-way operation of the network allows for userinteractivity with services, such as Pay-Per-View programming, NearVideo-On-Demand (NVOD) programming according to any of several knownNVOD implementation methods, View-on-Demand (VOD) programming (accordingto any of several known VOD implementation methods), and interactiveapplications, such as Internet connections and interactive media Guide(IMG) applications.

The CTS 10 also provides the interfaces, network control, transportcontrol, session control, and servers to access content and services,and distributes content and services to DHCT users. As shown in FIG. 1,a typical CTS 10 comprises a headend 11, hubs 12, an HFC access network17, and users' digital home communication terminals (DHCTs) 16. Itshould be appreciated that although a single component (e.g. a headend)is illustrated in FIG. 1, a CTS 10 can feature a plurality of any one ofthe illustrated components or may be configured with alternativeembodiments for any one of the individual components or with yet otheradditional components not enumerated above. A content provider (notshown) transmits media content to a headend for further transmission tousers downstream in the network.

Content provided by a content provider is communicated by the contentprovider to one or more headends 11. From those headends the content isthen communicated over a communications network 18 that includes aplurality of HFC access networks 17 (only one HFC access network 17 isillustrated). The HFC access network 17 typically comprises a pluralityof HFC nodes 13, each of which may serve a local geographical area. Thehub 12 connects to the HFC node 13 through a fiber portion of the HFCaccess network 17. The HFC node 13 is connected to a tap 14 which isconnected to a network interface unit (NIU) 15 which is connected to aDHCT 16. The NIU 15 is normally located at a user's property andprovides a transparent interface between the HFC node 13 and the users'internal wiring. Coaxial cables are typically used to couple nodes 13,taps 14 and NIUs 15 because the electrical signals can be easilyrepeated with radio frequency (RF) amplifiers.

As the high-level operations of many of the functions of CTSs 10 arewell known to those of skill in the art, further description of theoverall CTS 10 of FIG. 1 will not be contained herein. It will beappreciated, however, that the CTS 10 shown in FIG. 1 is merelyillustrative and should not be construed as implying any limitationsupon the scope of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of portions of a headend 11 that is configuredto provide media-on-demand (MOD) services in accordance with oneembodiment of the present invention. MOD services include, among otherthings, video-on-demand (VOD) services and respective MOD informationsuitable to be presented to a user via display of an interactive mediaguide. MOD server application 19 and a plurality of other serverapplications 20 are connected to a digital network control system (DNCS)23 via a high-speed network such as an Ethernet connection 32. The MODserver application 19 is responsible for reserving and configuringsystem resources needed to provide MOD services and for providingconfiguration and service data to an MOD client application 63 (FIG. 3),including MOD information comprising a catalog of titles available foron-demand viewing and/or on-demand rental by a user.

The DNCS 23 provides complete management, monitoring, and control of thenetwork's elements and broadcast services provided to users. In oneimplementation, the DNCS 23 uses a data insertion multiplexer 29 and adata QAM 30 to insert in-band broadcast file system (BFS) data into anMPEG-2 transport stream that is broadcast and received via DHCT'scommunication interface 42 and tuner system 45. The DNCS 23 alsocontains a session manager 34 that uses Digital Storage Media Commandand Control (DSMCC) protocol to set up and maintain MOD sessions. Thesession manager 34 processes user to network (U-N) session signalingmessages, manages allocation of session-related network resources,supports network management operations, acts as a point of contact tothe network for the DHCT's 16 in the network 18 to establish individualsessions, and supports MOD services by providing the signaling interfaceto establish, maintain and release client initiated exclusive sessions.

A service application manager (SAM) server 25 is a server component of aclient-server pair of components, with the client component beinglocated at the DHCT 16. Together, the client-server SAM componentsprovide a system in which the user can access services, which areidentified by an application to run and a parameter, such as particulardata content, specific to that service. The client-server SAM componentsalso manage the life cycle of the applications on the system, includingthe definition, activation, and suspension of services they provide andthe downloading of the applications into the DHCT 16 as necessary.

Applications on both the headend 11 and the DHCT 16 can access the datastored in a broadcast file system (BFS) server 28 in a similar manner toa file system found on operating systems. The BFS server 28 is a part ofa broadcast file system that has a counterpart BFS client module 43(FIG. 3) in a DHCT 16 connected to the network 18. The BFS server 28repeatedly sends data for applications on a data carousel (not shown)over a period of time in cyclical repeated fashion so that a DHCT 16that is in need of reading any particular data file or parts thereof mayreceive it when requested by a user or one or more of its internalrunning processes.

A VOD content manager 21 is responsible for managing the content on theVOD content servers 22. The MOD server application 19 controls both theVOD content manager 21 and the VOD content servers 22 and utilizes themto help deliver the video and audio streams that make up VOD services.In one embodiment, an MOD content manager and MOD content servers (notshown) could run respectively in parallel to the VOD content manager 21and VOD content servers 22 to manage other types of on-demand mediacontent. In an alternate embodiment an MOD content manager replaces theVOD content manager 21 and the MOD content servers replaces the VODcontent servers 22. The QAM modulators that comprise the QAM group 24receive the MPEG-2 transport streams from the VOD content servers 22,convert them into encrypted RF signals at a specified frequency(channel), and transmit them to a DHCT 16 via the network 18.

The QPSK modem 26 is responsible for transporting the out-of-band IP(internet protocol) datagram traffic between the distribution headend 11and a DHCT 16. Data from the QPSK modem 26 is routed by headend router27 within the headend 11. The headend router 27 is also responsible fordelivering upstream application traffic to the various serverapplications 19 & 20.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a DHCT 16 that is coupled to aheadend 11 and to a television 41. Some of the functionality performedby applications executed in the DHCT 16 (such as the MOD clientapplication 63) may instead be performed at the headend 11 and viceversa. A DHCT 16 is typically situated at a user's residence or place ofbusiness and may be a stand alone unit or integrated into another devicesuch as, for example, a television set or a personal computer. The DHCT16 preferably includes a communications interface 42 for receivingsignals (video, audio and/or other data) from the headend 11 through thenetwork 18 and for providing any reverse information to the headend 11through the network 18. The DHCT 16 further includes at least oneprocessor 44 for controlling operations of the DHCT 16, an RF outputsystem 48 for driving the television display 41, and a tuner system 45for tuning into a particular television channel to be displayed and forsending and receiving various types of data or media from the headend11. The tuner system 45 includes, in one implementation, an out-of-bandtuner for bi-directional quadrature phase shift keying (QPSK) datacommunication and a quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) tuner forreceiving television signals. Additionally, a receiver 46 receivesexternally-generated information, such as user inputs or commands fromother devices.

The DHCT 16 may also include one or more wireless or wired interfaces,also called ports, for receiving and/or transmitting data to otherdevices. For instance, the DHCT 16 may feature USB (Universal SerialBus), Ethernet (for connection to a computer), IEEE-1394 (for connectionto media devices in an entertainment center), serial, and/or parallelports. The user inputs may, for example, be provided by a computer ortransmitter with buttons or keys located either on the exterior of theterminal or by a hand-held remote control device or keyboard thatincludes user-actuated buttons.

In one implementation, the DHCT 16 includes system memory 49, whichincludes flash memory 51 and dynamic random access memory (DRAM) 52, forstoring various applications, modules and data for execution and use bythe processor 44. Basic functionality of the DHCT 16 is provided by anoperating system 53 that is primarily stored in flash memory 51. Amongother things, the operating system 53 includes at least one resourcemanager 67 that provides an interface to resources of the DHCT 16 suchas, for example, computing resources.

One or more programmed software applications, herein referred to asapplications, are executed by utilizing the computing resources in theDHCT 16. Applications stored in flash memory 51 or DRAM 52 are executedby processor 44 (e.g., a central processing unit or digital signalprocessor) under the auspices of the operating system 53. Data requiredas input by an application is stored in DRAM 52 or flash memory 51 andread by processor 44 as need be during the course of the application'sexecution. Input data may be data stored in DRAM 52 by a secondaryapplication or other source, either internal or external to the DHCT 16,or possibly anticipated by the application and thus created with theapplication at the time it was generated as a software application, inwhich case it is stored in flash memory 51. Data generated by anapplication is stored in DRAM 52 by processor 44 during the course ofthe application's execution. DRAM 52 also includes application memory 70that various applications may use for storing and/or retrieving data.

An application referred to as navigator 55 is also resident in flashmemory 51 for providing a navigation framework for services provided bythe DHCT 16. The navigator 55 registers for and in some cases reservescertain user inputs related to navigational keys such as channelincrement/decrement, last channel, favorite channel, etc. The clientapplications may be resident in flash memory 51 or downloaded into DRAM52. The navigator 55 also provides users with television related menuoptions that correspond to DHCT functions such as, for example,providing an interactive program guide, blocking a channel or a group ofchannels from being displayed in a channel menu, and displaying avideo-on-demand purchase list.

The flash memory 51 also contains a platform library 56. The platformlibrary 56 is a collection of utilities useful to applications, such asa timer manager, a compression manager, a configuration manager, an HTMLparser, a database manager, a widget toolkit, a string manager, andother utilities (not shown). These utilities are accessed byapplications via application programming interfaces (APIs) as necessaryso that each application does not have to contain these utilities. Twocomponents of the platform library 56 that are shown in FIG. 3 are awindow manager 59 and a service application manager (SAM) client 57.

The window manager 59 provides a mechanism for implementing the sharingof the screen regions and user input. The window manager 59 on the DHCT16 is responsible for, as directed by one or more applications,implementing the creation, display, and de-allocation of the limitedDHCT 16 screen resources. It allows multiple applications to share thescreen by assigning ownership of screen regions, or windows. The windowmanager 59 also maintains, among other things, a user input registry 50in DRAM 52 so that when a user enters a key or a command via the remotecontrol device 80 or another input device such as a keyboard or mouse,the user input registry 50 is accessed to determine which of variousapplications running on the DHCT 16 should receive data corresponding tothe input key and in which order. As an application is executed, itregisters a request to receive certain user input keys or commands. Whenthe user presses a key corresponding to one of the commands on theremote control device 80, the command is received by the receiver 46 andrelayed to the processor 44. The processor 44 dispatches the event tothe operating system 53 where it is forwarded to the window manager 59which ultimately accesses the user input registry 50 and routes datacorresponding to the incoming command to the appropriate application.

The SAM client 57 is a client component of a client-server pair ofcomponents, with the server component being located on the headend 11. ASAM database 60 in DRAM 52 includes a data structure of services and adata structure of channels that are created and updated by the headend11. Many services can be defined using the same application component,with different parameters. Examples of services include, withoutlimitation and in accordance with one implementation, presentingtelevision programs (available through a WatchTV application 62),pay-per-view events (available through a PPV application 64), digitalmusic (not shown), media-on-demand (available through an MOD application63), and an interactive program guide. In general, the identification ofa service includes the identification of an executable application thatprovides the service along with a set of application-dependentparameters that indicate to the application the service to be provided.As a non-limiting example, a service of presenting a television programcould be executed with a set of parameters to view HBO or with aseparate set of parameters to view CNN. Each association of theapplication component (tune video) and one parameter component (HBO orCNN) represents a particular service that has a unique service I.D. TheSAM client 57 also interfaces with the resource manager 67, as discussedbelow, to control resources of the DHCT 16.

Application clients can also be downloaded into DRAM 52 at the requestof the SAM client 57, typically in response to a request by the user orin response to a message from the headend. In this non-limiting exampleDRAM 52 contains a media-on-demand application (MOD) 63, an e-mailapplication 65, and a web browser application 66, among others (notshown). It should be clear to one with ordinary skill in the art thatthese applications are not limiting and merely serve as examples forthis present embodiment of the invention. Furthermore, one or more DRAMbased applications may, as an alternative embodiment, be resident inflash memory 51. These applications, and others provided by the cablesystem operator, are top level software entities on the network forproviding services to the user.

In one implementation, applications executing on the DHCT 16 work withthe navigator 55 by abiding by several guidelines. First, an applicationutilizes the SAM client 57 for the provision, activation, and suspensionof services. Second, an application shares DHCT 16 resources with otherapplications and abides by the resource management policies of the SAMclient 57, the operating system 53, and the DHCT 16. Third, anapplication handles situations where resources are only available withnavigator 55 intervention. Fourth, when an application loses serviceauthorization while providing a service, the application suspends theservice via the SAM (the navigator 55 will reactivate an individualservice application when it later becomes authorized). Finally, anapplication client is designed to not have access to certain user inputkeys reserved by the navigator (i.e., power, channel +/−, volume +/−,etc.).

The MOD client application 63 provides the user with lists of availablemedia titles to choose from and with video presentations requested bythe user. The MOD client application 63 provides video presentations tothe user by engaging, preferably, in a direct two-way IP (InternetProtocol) connection with VOD content servers 22 (FIG. 2). The MODclient application 63 is also responsible for providing title deletionfunctionality as described below. In an alternative embodiment, thetitle deletion functionality is provided by a separate application thatcan be selectively aggregated to the MOD client application 63 forpurposes of charging separately for that functionality.

An executable program or algorithm corresponding to an operating system(OS) component, or to a client platform component, or to a clientapplication, or to respective parts thereof, can reside in and executeout of DRAM 52 and/or flash memory 51. Likewise, data inputted into oroutputted from any executable program can reside in DRAM 52 or flashmemory 51. Furthermore, an executable program or algorithm correspondingto an OS component, or to a client platform component, or to a clientapplication, or to respective parts thereof, can reside in flash memory51, or in a local storage device connected to DHCT 16 and be transferredinto DRAM 52 for execution. Likewise, data input for an executableprogram can reside in flash memory 51 or a storage device and betransferred into DRAM 52 for use by an executable program or algorithm.In addition, data outputted by an executable program can be written intoDRAM 52 by an executable program or algorithm and be transferred intoflash memory 51 or into a storage device for storage purposes. Thepresent invention is not limited by where or how data and/orapplications are stored or retrieved.

Each of the above mentioned applications comprises executableinstructions for implementing logical functions and can be embodied inany computer-readable medium for use by or in connection with aninstruction execution system, apparatus, or device, such as acomputer-based system, processor-containing system, or other system thatcan fetch and execute the instructions. In the context of this document,a “computer-readable medium” can be any means that can contain, store,communicate, propagate, or transport the program for use by or inconnection with the instruction execution system, apparatus, or device.The computer readable medium can be, for example but not limited to, anelectronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, orsemiconductor system, apparatus, device, or propagation medium. Morespecific examples (a non-exhaustive list) of the computer-readablemedium would include the following: an electrical connection(electronic) having one or more wires, a portable computer diskette(magnetic), a random access memory (RAM) (electronic), a read-onlymemory (ROM) (electronic), an erasable programmable read-only memory(EPROM or Flash memory) (electronic), an optical fiber (optical), and aportable compact disc read-only memory (CDROM) (optical). Note that thecomputer-readable medium could even be paper or another suitable mediumupon which the program is printed, as the program can be electronicallycaptured, via for instance optical scanning of the paper or othermedium, then compiled, interpreted or otherwise processed in a suitablemanner, and then stored in a computer memory.

FIG. 4 illustrates a non limiting example of a remote control device 80that is used to provide user input to the DHCT 16. The arrow buttons 82include an up arrow button 83, a down arrow button 84, a left arrowbutton 85, and a right arrow button 86 that are used to scroll throughoptions and/or to highlight an option. The select button 87 may be usedto select a currently highlighted option that is provided to the user.Other buttons that are available on the remote control device will bediscussed further below. Many alternative methods of providing userinput may be used including a remote control device with differentbuttons and/or button layouts, a keyboard device, a voice activateddevice, etc. The invention described herein is not limited by the typeof device used to provide user input.

With continued reference to FIGS. 3 and 4 throughout the remainingfigures, FIG. 5 depicts an example media title deletion window 100A. Aswith other window examples discussed below, processor 44 executesprogram instructions of MOD client application 63 that cause it todirect the window manager 59 to create window 100A via display data thatis formatted for television 41. Processor 44 stores the display data orparts thereof in DRAM 52 (as necessary) and transfers the display datato a display output system such as RF output system 48 wherein displaydata is converted to respective television signals and transmitted totelevision 41. Of course, the scope of the invention also includes anyother method of causing the described windows to appear to the user.

The example window 100A contains a top portion 101 that typicallycontains one or more headings and a bottom portion 102 that typicallyillustrates relevant buttons available on the remote control device 80.Media title list 107 contains media titles that are retrieved by MODclient application 63 from application memory 70. Information section104 contains information related to a media title shown in a highlightedtitle area 109, which in this example is “Angela's Ashes” 105. Browsingsymbol 103 suggests to the user that the user may use the up and downarrow buttons 83, 84 on the remote control device 80 to browse the mediatitle list 107 and use the select button 87 to request the currentlyhighlighted media title. For example the user may activate the downarrow button on the remote control device in order to cause the mediatitle “Any Given Sunday” 108 to be displayed in the highlighted titlearea 109 and then activate the select button 87 in order to request themovie. In an alternative embodiment activating the up an down arrows onthe remote control device 80 would result in shifting the highlightedtitle area rather than shifting the media title list. The user maydelete the media title currently shown in the highlighted title area 109from the media title list 107 by pressing the “D” button 88 on theremote control device 80. Instead of a single dedicated key in an inputdevice to invoke the delete functionality, in an alternate embodiment, acombination of keys pressed simultaneously or in sequential order aredesignated for deleting a highlighted media title.

FIGS. 6 and 7 depict example confirmation windows 110A and 110B thatserve as alternative intermediate confirmation steps prior to theimplementation of a title deletion. This intermediate confirmation stepensures that the user wishes to delete the highlighted title from themedia title list and reduces accidental deletions. Example window 110Aprompts the user to either confirm the deletion by pressing the “D”button 88 or to cancel the deletion by pressing the “E” button 89.Example window 110B, on the other hand, prompts the user for input onwhether the deletion is to be effective permanently (via the “D” button88) or just during the current on-demand title selection session (viathe “E” button 89). Information identifying a deleted media title andits corresponding deletion duration is stored in application memory 70,such as in a database, by MOD client application 63 in order prevent thedeleted media title from being included in media title listssubsequently presented to the user, including after receiving additionaltitle information from the MOD server application 19. A user may,however, undelete a media title by following the procedure illustratedfurther below.

FIG. 8 depicts an example window 100B illustrating the deletion of amedia title from the media title list 107 (FIG. 5). Example window 100Bis presented to the user after the user activates the “D” button 88 onthe remote control device 80 while being presented with example window100A and then confirms the deletion request by re-activating the “D”button 88 while being presented with a confirmation window (110A or110B). The media title previously shown in the highlighted title area109 is deleted and replaced by the next media title on the media titlelist 107 (FIG. 5). In this example, the title “Angela's Ashes” 105 (FIG.5) is deleted and replaced with the title “Any Given Sunday” 108.

FIG. 9 depicts an example window 120 illustrating the process ofundeleting a media title. Example window 120 is presented to the userafter the user activates the “E” button 89 on the remote control device80 while being presented with example window 110 (FIG. 8). The user canundelete a highlighted media title by activating the select button 87.Upon being undeleted, a media title will no longer be identified inapplication memory 70 as being deleted and will be shown in media titlelists subsequently presented to the user.

FIG. 10 depicts an example window 130 illustrating media filteringcategories. Example window 130 is presented to the user after the useractivates the “F” button 90 on the remote control device 80. Thefiltering list 131 contains filtering categories, such as filteringcategory 132, and a highlighted filtering category area 133. A filteringcategory contains criteria that are used to remove or filter out mediatitles from media title lists that are presented to the user. Examplefiltering categories include release year (e.g. 1999), released after ayear, released prior to a year, movie classification (such as comedy,drama, etc.), critic rating (such as one star, two star, etc.), movierating (such as PG, PG-13, etc.), movies already viewed, and the cost ofrenting the movie. For example, in one implementation, the cost ofrenting a movie can be used as a filter to exclude movies that cost morethan defined selectable amounts, and in another implementation, the useris able to enter the cost to use as the threshold. The user can use theremote control device 80 to select a desired media filtering category.Upon selection of a media filtering category, the user is presented withmedia filtering criteria falling under the selected media filteringcategory as illustrated in FIG. 11.

In an alternate embodiment, the MOD client application 63 comprises atext string matching sub-component that enables filtering based on textstrings entered by the user for applicable filtering categories. Forinstance, the user can implement a filter to delete titles that featurea disliked leading actor or actress. Upon user selection of filter byleading actor/actress 134 in window 130, an intermediate window isdisplayed to the user for entering alphanumeric characters via an inputdevice. In the absence of a keyboard, MOD client application causesdisplay of a window comprising visual information for scrolling andselection of individual letters. A mapping of alphanumeric characters toinput device keys can also be displayed to facilitate entering letterswith the remote control device. Upon the user entering the name of aleading actor or actress, the media client application may proceed toverify correct name spelling by transmitting the input name to the MODserver. The MOD server sends an addressable message to DHCT 16 that getsinput as data to MOD client application 63. The received message datafrom MOD server confirms the correct spelling, rectifies the spelling,or suggests close variants of the user-entered name. MOD clientapplication 63 interprets the message data and presents it to the user.In the event that variants are displayed to the user, the user isprompted to select one of the displayed name variants or to cancel thefiltering request.

In an alternate embodiment, a “filter in” function rather than a “filterout” function is implemented such that filter enactment causes thoseon-demand titles that do not match the filter's criteria to be removedfrom the media title list. Furthermore, when applicable, the function ofa user-implemented filter can be selected by the user to function as a“filter in” or “filter out”. Some filters in the set of availablefilters may not feature user-selectable “filter in” or “filter out”functionality but merely may default to either a “filter in” or “filterout” function. In an alternate embodiment, the MOD client applicationenacts capabilities to the user to filter only existing titles in thecurrent media title list, to filter only future title additions to themedia title list, or both.

FIGS. 11 and 12 are example windows 140 & 150 respectively illustratingthe activation of a filtering criterion. The filtering criteria list 141contains filtering criteria, such as filtering criterion 142, and ahighlighted filtering criterion area 143. The user can use the remotecontrol device 80 to select a desired filtering criteria. In thisexample, the user can filter out media titles corresponding to mediatitles that have critic ratings below one star by activating the selectbutton on the remote control device 80. Referring now to FIG. 12, once ahighlighted criterion is selected by the user, it becomes activated andis displayed in an active filters list 144. Upon activation, thefiltering criterion is stored by MOD client application 63 inapplication memory 70 and is used to filter out media titles that meetthe activated filtering criterion from media title lists that arepresented to the user. In this example, media titles with critic ratingsof under one star will be filtered out from media title lists that arepresented to the user. In one embodiment, new media titles that aresubsequently received by MOD client application 63 from MOD serverapplication 19 (FIG. 2) are filtered according to currently activefiltering criteria so that they are not included in media title listspresented to the user.

FIG. 13 depicts an example window 160 illustrating the de-activation ofa filtering criterion. Example window 160 is presented to the user uponthe activation of the right arrow button on the remote control device 80while being presented with example window 150 (FIG. 12). Once anactivated filtering criterion is selected by the user from the activefilters list 144, it becomes de-activated, is removed from the activefilters list 144, and is added back to the filtering criteria list 141.Upon de-activation, a filtering criterion is deleted from applicationmemory 70 and is no longer used by the MOD client application 63 tofilter out media titles.

FIGS. 14 and 15 are example windows 170 and 180 respectively thatillustrate an alternative embodiment to the media title deletion windowsillustrated in FIGS. 5 and 8. In this embodiment, example window 170 ispresented to the user after the user activates the “D” button 88 on theremote control device 80 while being presented with example window 100A(FIG. 5). The user may then activate the up and down arrow buttons 83,84 on the remote control device 80 to browse the media title list 117and the select button 87 to delete a currently highlighted media titlefrom the media title list 171. Once a title is deleted from a mediatitle list, it remains excluded from such list even after the list ispresented to the user at a later time. The user may however restore apreviously deleted title to the media title list from which it wasdeleted by following the procedure illustrated in FIG. 16. Referring nowto FIG. 15, example window 180 is presented to the user after the useractivates the select button 87 on the remote control device 80 whilebeing presented with example window 170. The media title previouslyshown in the highlighted title area 172 is replaced by the next mediatitle on the media title list 171 (FIG. 14) and is transferred to thedeleted title list 173. In this example, the title “Angela's Ashes” 105(FIG. 14) is replaced with the title “Any Given Sunday” 108 and istransferred to the deleted title list 173 as shown in FIG. 15.

FIG. 16 depicts an example window 190 illustrating the process ofundeleting a media title. Example window 190 is presented to the userafter the user activates the right arrow button 86 on the remote controldevice 80 while being presented with example window 180 (FIG. 15). Theuser can undelete a highlighted media title by activating the selectbutton 87. Once undeleted, a media title will be included in media titlelists subsequently presented to the user.

In another embodiments, MOD client application 63 features thecapability of creating a plurality of title removal or fine-tuning sets,each set designated to respectively retain the title viewing preferencesof each individual viewer or member of the family. A title viewingpreference set may simply be named with a suffice or prefix number orletter that individual viewers appropriate under personal agreementsbetween themselves, or the set may be named by a user inputtingalphanumeric strings with an input device such as a keyboard or remotecontrol device.

It should be emphasized that the above-described embodiments of thepresent invention, particularly any “preferred embodiments”, are merelypossible examples of the implementations, merely setting forth a clearunderstanding of the principles of the inventions. Many variations andmodifications may be made to the above-described embodiments of theinvention without departing substantially from the spirit of theprinciples of the invention. All such modifications and variations areintended to be included herein within the scope of the disclosure andpresent invention and protected by the following claims.

1. An interactive media services client device for providing a user withmedia information received from a programmable television servicesserver device, said client device comprising: memory for storing data; amedia title list contained in said memory, the media title list havingat least one media title, each media title being displayed in a titlearea; a processor configured to cause a title area containing a mediatitle identified by user input to be removed from said media title list;and providing the user with a list of removed media titles.
 2. Theinteractive media services client device of claim 1, wherein the userinput is transmitted via a remote control device.
 3. The interactivemedia services client device of claim 1, wherein the media titleidentified by said user is highlighted.
 4. The interactive mediaservices client device of claim 1, wherein the media title identified bysaid user input is a video-on-demand media title.
 5. The interactivemedia services client device of claim 1, wherein said media title listis displayed via a television.
 6. A programmable television servicesserver device for providing media information to a user via aninteractive media services client device, said server device comprising:memory for storing data; a media title list contained in said memory;the media title list having at least one media title, each media titlebeing displayed in a title area; and a processor configured to cause atitle area containing a media title identified by user input to beremoved from said media title list; said processor being furtherconfigured to provide the user with a list of removed media titles. 7.The programmable television services server device of claim 6, whereinthe user input is transmitted via a remote control device.
 8. Theprogrammable television services server device of claim 6, wherein themedia title identified by said user is highlighted.
 9. The programmabletelevision services server device of claim 6, wherein the media titleidentified by said user input is a video-on-demand media title.
 10. Theprogrammable television services server device of claim 6, wherein saidmedia title list is displayed via a television.
 11. A method forproviding media information to a user via an interactive media servicesclient device coupled to a programmable television services serverdevice, said method comprising: receiving user input identifying afiltering criterion; identifying a media title from a media title listbased on said filter criterion; excluding a title area containing saidmedia title that meets said filtering criterion from said media titlelist; displaying said media title list that has at least one title areacontaining at least one media title except said title area containingsaid media title that meets said filter criterion; and providing theuser with a list of removed media titles.
 12. The method of claim 11,wherein the media title is a media title that is received by the clientdevice from the server device at a future time.
 13. The method of claim11, wherein the media title list is presented to the user at a futuretime.
 14. The method of claim 11, wherein the user input is transmittedvia a remote control device.
 15. The method of claim 11, wherein thefiltering criterion identified by said user is highlighted.
 16. Themethod of claim 11, wherein said media title list containsvideo-on-demand media titles.
 17. The method of claim 11, wherein saidmedia title list is displayed via a television.
 18. The method of claim11, wherein said filtering criterion is selected from a group consistingof: a release year, a movie classification, an actor/actress, a criticrating, a category, and a rental fee.
 19. An interactive media servicesclient device for providing a user with media information received froma programmable television services server device, said client devicecomprising: memory for storing data; a media title list contained insaid memory, the media title list having at least one media title, eachmedia title being displayed in a title area; and a processor configuredto cause a title area containing a media title corresponding to afiltering criterion identified by user input to be excluded from saidmedia title list, said processor being further configured to displaysaid media title list without said title area containing said mediatitle that corresponded to said filtering criterion; said processorbeing further configured to provide the user with a list of removedmedia titles.
 20. The client device of claim 19, wherein the user inputis transmitted via a remote control device.
 21. The client device ofclaim 19, wherein the filtering criterion identified by said user ishighlighted.
 22. The client device of claim 19, wherein said media titlelist contains video-on-demand media titles.
 23. The client device ofclaim 19, wherein said media title list is displayed via a television.24. The client device of claim 19, wherein said filtering criterion isselected from a group consisting of: a release year, a movieclassification, an actor/actress, a critic rating, a category, and arental fee.
 25. A programmable television services server device forproviding media information to a user via an interactive media servicesclient device, said server device comprising: memory for storing data; amedia title list contained in said memory, the media title list havingat least one media title, each media title being displayed in a titlearea; and a processor configured to cause a title area containing amedia title corresponding to a filtering criterion identified by userinput to be excluded from said media title list; said processor beingfurther configured to provide the user with a list of removed mediatitles.
 26. The server device of claim 25, wherein the user input istransmitted via a remote control device.
 27. The server device of claim25, wherein the filtering criterion identified by said user ishighlighted.
 28. The server device of claim 25, wherein said media titlelist contains video-on-demand media titles.
 29. The server device ofclaim 25, wherein said media title list is displayed via a television.30. The server device of claim 25, wherein said filtering criterion isselected from a group consisting of: a release year, a movieclassification, an actor/actress, a critic rating, a category, and arental fee.
 31. The method of claim 11, wherein said client device is atelevision set-top box.
 32. The method of claim 20, wherein datacorresponding to said filtering criterion is stored in non-volatilememory.
 33. The method of claim 11, wherein said filtering criterion iswhether said user had previously been provided with a media presentationcorresponding to said media title.
 34. The method of claim 11, whereinsaid filtering criterion is a text string entered by said user.
 35. Themethod of claim 34, further comprising comparing said text string toother text strings; and providing said user with alternative text stringselections.
 36. The method of claim 35, further comprising promptingsaid user to select a filtering criterion that corresponds to said textstring.
 37. The method of claim 35, further comprising prompting saiduser to select an alternative text string.
 38. The method of claim 11,further comprising: receiving user input identifying a second filteringcriterion; and excluding a media title that does not meet said secondfiltering criterion from said media title list.
 39. The method of claim11, wherein a video presentation identified by said media title iscurrently available to said user via said client device.
 40. The methodof claim 11, wherein a video presentation identified by said media titleis not currently available to said user via said client device.
 41. Amedia services system for providing media information to a user via aninteractive media services client device coupled to a programmable mediaservices server device, said system comprising: memory having a mediatitle list that includes at least one media title, each media titlebeing displayed in a title area; and logic stored in said memory, saidlogic being configured to cause a title area containing a media titlecorresponding to a filtering criterion identified by user input to beexcluded from a media title list; said logic being further configured toprovide the user with a list of removed media titles.
 42. The system ofclaim 41, wherein each of a plurality of users provides user inputidentifying a filtering criterion.
 43. The system of claim 42, wherein aplurality of filtering criteria corresponding to a plurality of usersare stored in memory.
 44. The system of claim 42, wherein each of saidplurality of users is presented with a media title list.
 45. The systemof claim 41, wherein said filtering criterion is based on whether saiduser had previously been provided with a media presentationcorresponding to said media title.
 46. The system of claim 41, whereinsaid user input is a text string.
 47. The system of claim 46, furthercomprising logic configured to cause said client device to prompt saiduser to select a filtering criterion that corresponds to said textstring.
 48. The system of claim 46, further comprising logic configuredto cause said client device to prompt said user to select an alternativetext string.
 49. The system of claim 41, further comprising logicconfigured to cause a media title that does not meet a second filteringcriterion identified by user input to be excluded from said media titlelist.
 50. The system of claim 41, wherein a video presentationidentified by said media title is currently available to said user viasaid client device.
 51. The system of claim 41, wherein a videopresentation identified by said media title is not currently availableto said user via said client device.